Suzuki Seijun, the legendary Japanese director probably best known for the cult hit BRANDED TO KILL, returns with this movie about a league of killers for hire. Something of a sequel to BRANDED TO KILL, the film stars Esumi Makiko as a killer named Miyuki Minazuki but known as "Stray Cat", the number three assassin in Japan's professional killer guild. As in its predecessor, number three is contacted by the guild and ordered to kill number one. Knowing that if she succeeds she will become number one, Miyuki embarks on a difficult and dangerous mission to kill the elusive number one. Told in Suzuki's trademark style that blends a fractured narrative with lurid and heavily stylized action sequences, PISTOL OPERA is another brilliant work from a great director.
